Presently, most buildings are constructed with interior walls and floors using either metal or wood support members, i.e., studs or joists, for their frames. Typically, electrical boxes are mounted on these metal or wood support members.
Numerous mounting arrangements are known in the prior art for mounting an electrical box to a metal or wood stud.
Due to the substantial differences between metal and wood support members, most mounting arrangements are designed for use with either a metal support member or a wood support member, but typically not both. Although, some mounting arrangements have been developed that can be used on both metal and wood support members. However, these mounting arrangements have several disadvantages.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,474,994 to Swanquist discloses an electrical box mounting clip having a pair of grippers that lock into the inturned flanges on the open side of a metal stud. Disadvantages of the Swanquist box mounting clip are that it cannot be mounted onto either side of the metal stud, it can only be affixed onto the open side of the metal stud, and the box mounting clip will not lock onto a wood stud.
Another disadvantage of some prior mounting arrangements is that they require holding the box to the support member, then affixing the bracket to the support member with a fastener such as a screw or nail. Therefore, two hands are needed to mount an electrical box onto a support member. Other prior mounting arrangements do not securely grip the support member.
Examples of some prior electrical boxes with mounting arrangements are disclosed in the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,705,768 to Johnson et al; 3,537,698 to Callanan et al; 3,588,019 to Cozeck et al; 3,701,448 to Vadnais; 3,730,466 to Swanquist; 3,780,209 to Schuplin; 4,062,470 to Boteler; 4,135,337 to Medlin; 4,140,293 to Hansen; 4,176,758 to Glick; 4,447,030 to Nattel; 4,747,506 to Stuchlik, III; 4,880,128 to Jorgensen; 4,892,211 to Jorgensen; and 5,025,944 to Rodick.
Thus, there exists a need to provide an improved electrical box assembly with a mounting bracket which can be used with either metal or wood support members, and is relatively easy to install. This invention addresses this need in the art, along with other needs which will become apparent to those skilled in the art once given this disclosure.